Providing up-to-date information, news and original content on American Military issues.

Military News

Monday, November 02, 2015

Dunford Salutes U.S., South Korean Troops on DMZ Duty

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

PANMUNJOM, South Korea, November 2, 2015 — For two days in
Seoul, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. participated in meetings to
strengthen the U.S.-South Korean defense alliance.

At the end of the meetings, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff traveled 35 miles north to the Demilitarized Zone here between North
and South Korea to see why this effort is so important, and to thank the
American and South Korean soldiers who man “the front line of freedom.”

Dunford came face-to-face with North Korean soldiers during
his visit to the Joint Security Area. As his party arrived at the South Korean
Freedom House, North Korean soldiers came from their headquarters. The chairman
and his party went to the line separating North and South Korea and the North
Korean soldiers approached, taking pictures of the American leader.

A Silent Encounter

Dunford listened as Army Col. James Minnich, the secretary
of the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission, explained the
workings of the Joint Security Area. All the while, North Korean soldiers stood
about eight feet away, snapping more pictures.

Not a word was exchanged between the two sides. When Dunford
went in to the JSA conference room, North Korean soldiers peered in through the
windows.

Before moving to the Truce Village, Dunford visited with
U.S. and South Korean soldiers who serve together as part of the Joint Security
Area Battalion. The general thanked the soldiers for their service in the area.

The expectation on the DMZ, he added, is that “if something
happens you are going to respond in minutes -- not next week, not next month --
but in minutes. The expectation is that you’ll be ready.”

It is tense on the DMZ, where U.S. and South Korean soldiers
always keep a close watch.

“They are game-on every day and that’s the expectation --
that they can fight tonight and they can fight tonight and win,” Dunford said.

Coming to the DMZ also allows the general the opportunity to
walk the ground and visualize it. “It reminds you of the challenge we have up
here and the expectation of just being ready in case something happens,” he
said.

Dunford said seeing the combined unit of U.S. and South
Korean soldiers reminded him of how close the partnership between the two
countries is. “There is probably not another organization out there with the
level of integration we have up here along the DMZ in the security battalion,”
he said.

The combined unit, he said, is a microcosm of the U.S.-South
Korean alliance.

Dunford visited the DMZ the day after Defense Secretary Ash
Carter did the same. Their visits illustrate the importance the United States
places on the alliance with South Korea and on Asia as a whole, the general
said.

During his first month as chairman, Dunford said, he
estimates that he spent 50 percent of his time on Asia-Pacific issues. “This is
only my second visit outside the United States and it’s here in Korea, so I
think that reflects the importance of the Pacific to the United States,” he
said.